Prosecutors to investigate central bank, Consob in MPS case
Second probe to focus on regulation of troubled Italian lender
30 January, 15:39
(ANSA) - Trani, January 30 - Prosecutors have opened an
investigation into the supervisory actions of both the Bank of
Italy and market watchdog Consob over troubled Monte dei Paschi
di Siena (MPS), consumer group Adusbef said Wednesday.The probe - the second thus far - comes amid a financial and political scandal with as many twists and turns as a medieval street in the Italian hill-town of Siena where MPS, the world's oldest bank, was founded. And the crisis has not only drawn in major financial market players and Italian politicians, but also some of Europe's leading banking authorities.
This latest prosecutors' probe will review actions by Mario Draghi, current chief of the European Central Bank and former head of the Bank of Italy, which has supervisory responsibilities over banks.
Adusbef's complaint asks Trani prosecutors to review just how the Bank of Italy and market regulator Consob failed to see huge financial risks at MPS, Italy's third-largest bank.
Focus will be trained on the controversial takeover by MPS of a smaller bank, Antonveneta, in 2008, at what many say was an inflated price and led to many of the current problems.
In its defence, the Bank of Italy said that as early as 2010 it sought daily reports from MPS on its liquidity levels, and a week ago noted that MPS had hidden documents, making it impossible for regulators to understand the "true nature" of the bank's financial situation.
Brochure: 
